Proceedings of the 5th International Congress On Arsenic in the Environment, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 11?16 May 2014, One Century of the Discovery of Arsenicosis in Latin America (1914?2014) As 2014

M.I. LITTER; H.B. NICOLLI; J.M. MEICHTRY; N. QUICI; J. BUNDSCHUH; P. BHATTACHARYA; R. NAIDU

CRC A.A. Balkema Publishers, Taylor and Francis Publishers

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014

978-1-138-00141-1

Arsenic is an element that has attracted people?s attention since ancient times. It used to be considered as a powerful poison, and it is now in the news as a result of the largest environmental calamity in Asia. This has led to the rediscovery of arsenic despite it always exists in the environment as a ?silent? toxin in the world. Every year, new areas with arsenic in environments exceeding the maximal contamination levels set by international organizations are identified. Arsenic is a natural or anthropogenic contaminant in areas where human subsistence is at risk. It comprises a large number of chemical species with a wide variation in toxicity. Arsenic induces non-specific pathological effects which are difficult to reverse and result in serious social impact. It is thus essential to carry out cross-border and interdisciplinary studies. Scientific interest in arsenic has increased remarkably since the last century. By using the ISI Web of Knowledge as a search tool, there were 40,620 published articles on arsenic in its database for the period 1950?2013. Among them, 25,498 have been published in the 21st century. The increase in scientific publications has been spectacular in areas such as environmental sciences, food, metabolism, health and remediation. Arsenic is an old toxin offering unparalleled opportunities for research. The First International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As 2006), was held in Mexico City in 2006 with the theme of ?Natural Arsenic in Groundwater of Latin America?. Following the success of this conference, the Congress has been organized biennially, continuing with the theme of the congress held in Mexico and also including toxicology, health effects, medical aspects, social sciences and policy issues with rotating venues in different continents. The following International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment, As 2008 was held in Valencia, Spain (May 2008) with the theme of ?Arsenic from Nature to Humans?, As 2010 in Tainan, Taiwan (May 2010), with the theme of ?Arsenic in Geosphere and Human Diseases? and As 2012 in Cairns, Australia (July, 2012) with a theme ?Understanding the Geological and Medical Interface of Arsenic?. All these congresses have provided participants with an up-to-date, global overview of the arsenic research with multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. The forthcoming fifth International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As 2014) in Buenos Aires, the Capital of Argentina between 11?16 May, 2014 provides yet another exciting opportunity to the scientists to present their state of the art research results both on platform and posters, exchange ideas, discover and discuss common research interests.. The event in Argentina is also significant, since 2014 marks the completion of a century of the discovery of problems related to groundwater arsenic contamination and the related arsenicosis disease in different parts of the country. Besides the academic interests, the scientific community involved in arsenic research needs to find the practical solutions to fullfil the societal needs for the prevention or reduction of arsenic exposure and its toxic effects in millions of exposed people throughout the world. We have received a large number of over 300 extended abstracts which were submitted from researchers, health workers, technologists, students, legislators, government officials to the 3rd international congress Arsenic in the Environment with the theme Arsenic in Geosphere and Human Diseases. AS2014_Book.indb xxxix 3/15/2014 12:21:08 PM xl The topics to be covered in the Congress As 2014 have been grouped under the five general thematic areas: Theme 1: Arsenic in environmental matrices (air, water and soil) Theme 2: Arsenic in food Theme 3: Arsenic and health Theme 4: Removal technologies Theme 5: Mitigation management and policy We thank the members of the international scientific committee, for their dedicated efforts on reviewing the extended abstracts. Further, we thank the sponsors of the Congress from Argentina: the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), the National Research and Technology Council (CONICET), The National University of San Martín (UNSAM), The National University of Buenos Aires (UBA), The Argentine Foundation of Nanotechnology, Aguas Santafesinas S.A., the Secretary of Water from Santiago del Estero Province, the Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina, AIDIS-Argentina, ProH2O GEH Wasserchemie, Germany, SATIA, and some other national and international institutions, for the successful organization of the event. We are extremely grateful to the CRCCARE (University of South Australia), The DN Guha Mazumder Foundation, Kolkata, India, Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW-decision pending) for their generous support. The International Organizers Prosun Bhattacharya and Jochen Bundschuh would like to thank the Local Organizing Committee for the support to organize the 5th International International Congress, Arsenic in the Environment (As 2014), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) for the support within the framework of the Sustainable Arsenic Mitigation?SASMIT (Sida Contribution 73000854) and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology for supporting the activities of the KTH-International Groundwater Arsenic Research Group at the Department of Sustainable Development, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Stockholm on global networking and advocacy for sustainability of safe drinking water supplies. Jochen Bundschuh would thank the International Soceity of Groundwater for Sustainable Development (ISGSD) and the University of Southern Queensland, Australia for participation and final editorial work for the volume. We would like to acknowledge also Mrs. María Cambón, for her assistance during the compilation of the abstracts published in this volume. Lastly, the editors thank Janjaap Blom and Lukas Goosen of the CRC Press/Taylor and Francis (A.A. Balkema) Publishers, The Netherlands for their patience and skill for the final production of this volume.